Rev. Danny Fisher

As if I’m not busy enough these days, I’ve decided to inaugurate several new features here at the blog in the coming month. Today, I kick off this introduction of fresh stuff with “From the Mailbag”, a new series of posts in which I will answer reader questions here at the blog.

One of the great things about doing this blog–and something that keeps me going with it–is that I get a lot of emails from readers. Often I’m asked questions about Naropa and UWest, but I also get a lot of questions about professional chaplaincy, reading recommendations, Buddhist ideas about caregiving, and other topics. It occurred to me recently that it might be useful to start sharing reader questions and my answers to them here at the blog.

Our very first “From the Mailbag” question comes from Harvard University undergraduate Elizabeth “Bizzy” Goodman-Bacon. Bizzy is a psychology major at fair Harvard taking a Comparative Religious Ethics course this semester to fulfill a requirement. She’s especially interested in healthcare ethics and religion, and has decided to focus on “Buddhism and the ethics of dealing with death” in her final paper. Her TA (who is one my very best pals) directed her to me. What follows are her questions and my responses.

---

DEAR DANNY: What kind of advice, from a Buddhist perspective, is most important when dealing with the terminally ill? I’m also interested to know about the situations when a Buddhist chaplain must administer to all faiths (I’m thinking probably Christianity). For example, is it unethical for a Buddhist chaplain, who is technically an atheist, to administer the last rites for Christians? — BIZZY

DEAR BIZZY: First, in terms of attending to the terminally ill, I think the most important thing is simply to be as present as you can. You cannot attend to someone (or even really listen to or communicate genuinely with them) if you’re not able to be right there in the present moment with them. And, generally speaking, terminally ill patients will need you to be able to do this. This is one of the reasons why there was so much mindfulness meditation practice involved in the program I did at Naropa University. Mindfulness practice is one way of cultivating an awareness of what is happening in our experience moment-to-moment. It is learning to meet each moment on its own terms, without running away from it or trying to manipulate it or change it. It is training our mind to be present, to be there with what is. I think that even a little bit of this training is beneficial in the context of chaplaincy. Meditation practice can help us understand ourselves and the workings of our mind better. One of the natural results of this is that we’re able to relate to ourselves and others with much greater authenticity and attention. But whether it’s mindfulness meditation, centering prayer, psychotherapy, sports, or something else that gets us there, the most important thing from my point of view as a Buddhist is just to be as fully present as possible.

Second, with regards to the issue of doing work in a multifaith environment, there’s a bit to say. (And I’m going to pull some of it out of my past and current writing if you don’t mind.) Obviously, I am a Buddhist, and I also think that chaplains can reflect handily and thoughtfully from their own religious perspectives and reference points, as well as perhaps challenge patients to go further in their thinking and spirituality. But the professional healthcare chaplain is there to honor what is meaningful for the patient. Working with the patient’s spiritual frame of reference and not imposing another is fundamental to the practice of chaplaincy. While each individual chaplain must come to terms with what he or she can and cannot do with integrity, this approach is what separates professional chaplaincy from, say, proselytizing or preaching only to the converted or something like this. And this is more than just my opinion: the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (J.C.A.H.O., 1998) explicitly states that “patients have a fundamental right to considerate care that safeguards personal dignity and respects their cultural, psychological, and spiritual values.”

This is mind, a range of difficulties and frustrations are, as you suggest, not unimaginable for Buddhists working as a professional healthcare chaplains in the United States. One of my colleagues, Mikel Monnett, puts it well when he says, “The question can therefore be asked how can a Buddhist chaplain serving in an interfaith capacity possibly minister to the predominantly Christian populace of most [healthcare facilities] when he or she themselves are non-Christian?” Yet, to Mikel’s thinking, this is a misguided question, for it fails to take into consideration the values of professional chaplaincy. He sees these values as distinct from (but not necessarily incongruous with) the chaplain’s religious values. While Mikel concedes, “a chaplain’s personal beliefs do influence how he or she views [a healthcare] ministry and the individual style of pastoral care,” he insists that it is “absolutely essential” that a chaplain “[be] able to stand with the patient (and/or their family) where they are.” Whether Buddhist or Christian or whatever, if the chaplain can’t do this, then perhaps professional healthcare chaplaincy is not for that person.

It’s important to note, though, that some rites and rituals do require a very specific person. (The Catholic Church, for example, says that only an ordained priest can perform sacraments like the last rites.) In cases like this, the chaplain might offer care in the form of advocating for the patient and arranging for the proper religious representative to come visit him or her. — DANNY

---

Obviously, “From the Mailbag” will survive only so long as I receive reader questions…so send me some! At this point, I’ll take questions about anything you want to throw at me. It could be about things discussed at this blog (Buddhist practice and study, chaplaincy, Darfur, Burma, Tibet, religious studies, religion and film, etc.), or about something else you’d like to have me chew over a little bit. It can be an informational question. It could be a request for advice or something like a “Dear Abby” question. You can be anonymous when I answer your question, or I can make it a point to mention you and your work/website/etc. when I answer your question. Anything’s kosher at this point.

You can send your questions to me via email, at Facebook or Myspace, or by leaving a comment in this or other posts.

NEXT TIME: Thinking about heartbreak from a Buddhist perspective.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I’m currently working on a profile of my friend Ravenna Michalsen for an upcoming issue of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Last night, as part of my work for the profile, I accompanied Ravenna to one of her performances at Wesleyan University’s Buddhist House in Middletown, CT.

I have a few friends who have attended Wesleyan and they’ve told me a bit about the house. I had never actually visited the place until last night, however. Program housing at the college, it is described this way:

Buddhist House exists to provide students with a place to practice various forms of Buddhist meditation, study, and lifestyle. While several days a week are open to all students to come and practice with us, the residents in the house are strongly encouraged to keep a regular practice themselves and with the group. In having a set space to meditate regularly, observe silence on occasions, and hold in depth retreats and speakers, we make the teachings and practices of Buddhism more accessible to all students. No experience in meditation or commitment to Buddhism is required to live in Buddhist House, only an interest in exploring both.

I really enjoyed visiting and meeting some of the kiddos who live there now. If you’re ever in the neighborhood and they have an event going on, you should stop by.

Incidentally, there was a nice, modest gathering for Ravenna’s show. Next month, though, she will perform for a crowd of 10,000 at the 2008 Wesak International Film Festival in Kuala Lumpur.

Time Magazine has just released their list of the “100 Most Influential People.” Among the names are Nobel Peace laureates and Buddhist leaders <a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733756_1735918,00.html
“>Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.

Time organizes their list into five categories: “Leaders & Revolutionaries”, “Heroes & Pioneers”, “Scientists & Thinkers”, “Artists & Entertainers”, and “Builders & Titans.” His Holiness the Dalai Lama is listed in the first category, and Suu Kyi in the second.

I’m not really sure how one measures influence, but I think lists like this (especially in Time Magazine) can be good because they tend to put or keep the spotlight on those at the forefront of important struggles (like Suu Kyi and His Holiness the Dalai Lama).

Academy Award-winning actress Anjelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honor, The Grifters, The Royal Tenenbaums), who currently participates in the U.S. Campaign for Burma, reflects on Suu Kyi for the magazine. She writes:

For nearly two decades, Nelson Mandela languished in global obscurity while imprisoned under the apartheid regime in South Africa. Then, during the 1980s, millions around the world mobilized an effort for his release and an end to apartheid. Now Mandela is a global icon for human rights.

Today’s Mandela is Aung San Suu Kyi, a woman who has been held under arrest for 12 years in Burma. Suu Kyi, 62, has been a courageous advocate for human rights and democracy, and she is the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient. She became a target of her country’s military junta after spearheading a nationwide effort to end decades of military rule. The current regime is exceedingly brutal—incarcerating up to 2,000 political prisoners, recruiting more child soldiers than any other country in the world and carrying out a campaign of rape against ethnic-minority women. It has pursued a scorched-earth policy against minorities, destroying medical clinics, food supplies and homes.

Suu Kyi has appealed to the global community to take up the Burmese cause, saying “Please, use your liberty to promote ours.” It took decades for us to come to Mandela’s aid. Suu Kyi—and the people of Burma—are waiting to be freed now.

And Indian doctor, writer, and New Age figurehead Deepak Chopra offers his thoughts about His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

Millions of people turn to the Dalai Lama for inspiration, but to whom does he turn? He and his people have struggled all their lives with the audacity of hopelessness. Oppression and exile are their daily bread. Yet the Dalai Lama, 72, remains calm in the face of cruelty. What does he think of the human race? “We are the superior species on Earth but also the biggest troublemakers,” he once told me.

China’s rulers aren’t like the British masters of colonial India, and the Dalai Lama’s Gandhiesque nonviolent struggle won’t give them twinges of conscience, leading to Tibet’s freedom. If anything, Beijing has grown more ruthless in suppressing Tibetan aspirations, as we’ve seen this Olympic year. And yet he has found a way to think kindly of those who oppress his people and vilify his name. I found him unwilling to show any harshness. He said to me, “I don’t dislike the Chinese, only their actions.”

To me, the most mystical thing about him is also the most ordinary: the Dalai Lama is happy. He’s happy in the midst of chaos and turmoil. The most inspiring thing he ever told me was to ignore all organized faiths and keep to the road of higher consciousness. “Without relying on religion, we look to common sense, common experience and the findings of science for understanding,” he said. I do the same thing, but I still marvel at this model of calm and compassion. I’m sure neuroscientists would love to know what’s going on inside that brain.

To whom, then, does the Dalai Lama turn for inspiration? It’s not a person but a place—beyond I and thou, beyond self and nonself. The wonder isn’t that such a place can be found. The wonder is that one man makes it look so easy.

On a more personal note, I’d just like to say that I was also delighted to see Bruce Springsteen included on the list. There’s a special place in my heart for “The Boss”–not just because I think he’s easily one of our greatest living poets, but also because I think he’s a great man. Much of my family lives near Asbury Park, NJ (his stomping grounds), and I know he does a tremendous lot for the local community there. He also once did an astoundingly kind, way-above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty thing for a dear friend of mine. The kind of thing nobody hears about and you would only do if were just a good person at heart. I won’t cheapen it by writing about it, but suffice it to say that it chokes me up just to think about about. To me, Bruce is a saint. Take a look at what Sean Penn has to say about him for Time.

[This post has been updated as of 5.9.08.]

Sad news today from The Interdependent: Lobsang Lhalungpa, the great Tibetan scholar and diplomat whose translation of the The Life of Milarepa is considered a modern classic, died on Monday after sustaining injuries in a two-car accident in Santa Fe, NM. It appears that the driver of the other car, who fled the scene, was drinking at the time of the accident.

Lhalungpa-la’s friend Stephen Fox, founder of New Millenium Fine Art and managing editor of the Santa Fe Sun-News, writes:

He translated extensively over the past 40 years for the Dalai Lama, and also translated his English speeches into Tibetan. Many of Lobsang’s books were introduced with a short preface by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. He was monumentally instrumental in setting up the Tibetan Government in exile, and also for many years in India coordinated a Tibetan language program on All India Radio, for refugees and exiles, to keep up with the news from their former nation, grabbed by China for its fertility, its open spaces, its Himalayan Melt water sources, et. al.

Lobsang’s scholarly efforts were formidable; he often declined contact with the world and its repetitive news, good or bad, when he was in a state of spiritual retreat.

Not many know this, but it was Lobsang’s father, who, as Chief Tibetan State Oracle, strongly advised His Holiness to leave Lhasa right away, to escape the Chinese, rather than wait a day or two, as many were advising him. I am sure His Holiness has never forgotten this brilliant stroke of genius, and of course, always conferred with Lobsang Lhalungpa in many matters. Lobsang was very humble about this fact.

In an email to me, Mr. Fox shared His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s personal condolences to Lhalungpa-la’s children:

Your late father will be remembered for his pioneering role in establishing the first Tibetan language programme of All India Radio and for his dedicated life service to the promotion and preservation of our rich spiritual and cultural tradition. He also did much in helping Tibetan refugee communities at a very difficult time in their early years of exile. In his passing way, we have lost a great patriot and scholar.

Our thoughts, prayers, and practice are with Lhalungpa-la’s family and friends, especially his widow, Gisela, and his children.

Visit http://www.burmaitcantwait.org.